


Braving the Storm

by SpringBirdScion



Series: Opening Up (Bond Feels) [1]
Category: The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29974326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpringBirdScion/pseuds/SpringBirdScion
Summary: Brand and Rune kiss with the Companion bond fully open, in anticipation of doing more....Rune closed his eyes and fully opened the bond. The intensity of the sensation almost made them pull away from each other, but instead Brand closed his eyes against it and clenched his hands harder around Rune’s upper arms to ground himself...
Relationships: Brandon "Brand" Saint John/Rune Saint John
Series: Opening Up (Bond Feels) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2204712
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Braving the Storm

Rune curled on his side on the bed facing Brand. Brand reached up, wrapped his hands around Rune’s arms above the elbows, and gently pulled him closer. Rune inched his head forward until their foreheads and noses were touching. From this close, Brand’s eyes turned into a single blue whirlpool that pulled at a deep part of him. Then Rune closed his eyes and fully opened the bond. 

The intensity of the sensation almost made them pull away from each other, but instead Brand closed his eyes against it and clenched his hands harder around Rune’s upper arms to ground himself. There would be bruises there tomorrow. Rune felt Brand’s apology at the thought, and he dismissed it with a ripple of amused forgiveness - Rune preferred being Brand’s anchor to being considered breakable. 

A second later, the storm of their own emotions broke over them at full strength, and all they could do was cling to each other to stay afloat. 

That’s how it was the first few nights. Opening the bond wasn’t arousing; it was overwhelming. Rune and Brand spent most of those evenings gasping and crying in each other’s arms. Christian had told them this could happen. The stronger the bond, the longer it took to settle; the longer it took for the pair to do anything remotely useful while the bond was fully open. 

Even though this wasn’t their endgame, Rune found himself looking forward to that moment every night. The intensity of the experience was a little addicting, or as Brand put it, “We get a fucking high off of being ambushed - it’s not surprising we enjoy this.”

After a week, their recovery time went down to less than an hour. And after the second week, they were down to a few minutes. One night soon after that, when the roar of the emotional rush quieted around them, Brand moved one hand up to cup Rune’s cheek. Rune could feel the question through the quiet storm around them. Yes. Rune felt ready to go a step further, which of course meant Brand was ready as well.

This was something they’d done with the bond closed, but Rune was still nervous. This is why Rune wanted to have the bond open in the first place - it let him borrow Brand’s energy and drive to supplement his own. Brand himself liked the idea for his own reasons. 

So Brand kissed him. Rune could feel Brand’s excitement and almost-relief at this - and Brand’s rumination about how he had pushed Rune into the pool so many years ago... and replayed the memory of it in his head shortly after it had happened... and regretted it... and imagined what would’ve happened if he hadn’t pushed Rune away. 

Rune did the mental equivalent of crumpling that regret into a little ball and tossing it away. Brand laughed against Rune’s lips and traced them with his tongue. The bond translated that request for permission into an overarching anticipation that they both shared. Rune opened his mouth. 

Brand’s tongue tangling with Rune’s was accompanied by their bodies moving closer together. The resulting pleasure of skin-on-skin pressure ricocheted between them - a feedback loop that quickly intensified their mutual arousal. 

Then a frisson of discomfort bubbled up in the sea of emotion around them. It burst into a wave of doubt and fear. Rune doggedly pushed forward. It was only a small wave, and he was determined to ignore it by overwhelming it with the desire surging around them. But Brand pulled himself back, separating both his mind and body from Rune’s. 

“No!” Rune clutched at Brand’s shoulders, his waist. 

Brand held Rune at arm’s length and looked at him sadly. “We spoke about this. If my feelings boost yours and help you, that is fucking awesome. I am all for it. But that’s what you want from the bond. I need to know that you are ok. And I am not going to continue after feeling that - whatever that fucking was.”

“It’s always going to be like that! I have to live with it, or else I can never...” Rune trailed off. He surprised himself by blinking away tears.

“It had better not always be like that, because I don’t like what I felt. You need my consent for this too, you know.”

Before Rune could turn his head away in frustration, Brand cradled Rune’s face in both hands. “We will work through this. It won’t always feel like that because I won’t sit back and let that happen. We’ll figure it out together and make it change.” Brand wrapped Rune in his arms and gathered him in. 

One of them must have cracked the bond open again, because Brand’s determination washed over Rune. Rune sighed in acquiescence, his eyes closing. They’d try again tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Future works in this series will explore Brand and Rune using the Companion bond during sex.


End file.
